I know, I know: We all loved Suan Lum Night Bazaar. And to see the now empty lot of the popular night market that closed last year maybe breaks a few hearts. May I suggest you start seeing other markets? Is it too soon?
Well, for anyone ready to get back out there on the market scene, Bangkok has a nice new night bazaar, perfect for someone on the rebound. Oh, she’s pretty! Do you miss Suan Lum’s old Angkor-looking gate? She’s got that! How about a 400-table beer garden? Yes! Stage with nightly live music, flashing lights, and fake smoke? All of it. It may take some getting used to, but Siam Paradise Night Bazaar, which had a soft opening December 27, may gradually win some hearts.
Located on Sukhumvit Road, not far from the Punnawithi BTS station which will open in August 2011, the market is very accessible like Suan Lum was. An ample beer garden abuts Sukhumvit Road at the pedestrian bridge near Soi 101/1. The usual suspects — Singha, Tiger, Leo, Chang, Heineken, and Federbrau — are all on tap and available in beer towers. Parallel to the road and closing in the beer garden is a two-level structure featuring food vendors on the ground floor and seven 10-person karaoke rooms up above. Live music plays the whole time the market is open — that’s 3 pm to midnight daily. (Sure to be a big hit with the condo owners who moved in nearby before this market popped up! Zoning anyone?)
Farther back from the street behind the music venue/beer garden is a new covered, concrete-slab market with space for 1300 vendors. 90% of those spaces are rented already though only about 20% are occupied at the time of writing. Parking is free and aplenty. Tourists will even be able to get a transfer in from and back to Suvarnabhumi Airport for the quick shopping tour / beer-tower challenge on a layover.

The grand opening will be March of 2011, which mostly just means that more of those vendors will have moved in. But the beer garden is up and at ‘em, so why wait?